Method and system for enhanced detail-in-context viewing

ABSTRACT

An improved method for display of a transitional region of interest while transitioning between a first region of interest and a second region of interest within visual information on a display screen of a computer. The method comprising the steps of applying a transitional transformation to the visual information and displaying the transitional transformed visual information on the display screen. The transitional transformation requiring a reduced calculation for transforming the visual information in the transitional region.

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/021,313, filed Dec. 19, 2001, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,106,349 thedisclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

This application claims priority from Canadian Patent Application No.2,328,795, filed Dec. 19, 2000. The invention relates to the field ofcomputer graphics processing, more specifically, the invention relatesto the display of visual information including portable document format(PDF) files on a display screen of a computer.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Display screens are the primary visual display interface to a computer.One problem with these visual display screens is that they are limitedin size, thus presenting a challenge to user interface design,particularly when larger amounts of information is to be displayed. Thisproblem is normally referred to as the “screen real estate problem”.

Well known solutions to this problem include panning, zooming, scrollingor combinations thereof. While these solutions are suitable for a largenumber of visual display applications, these solutions become lesseffective where the visual information is spatially related, such asmaps, newspapers and such like. In this type of information display,panning, zooming and/or scrolling is not as effective as much of thecontext of the panned, zoomed or scrolled display is hidden.

A recent solution to this problem is the application of“detail-in-context” presentation techniques to the display of largesurface area media, such as maps. Detail-in-context presentationtechniques take on many forms and are useful for displaying largeamounts of information on limited size computer screens, and arebecoming more important with the increased use of hand held computingdevices such as personal digital assistance (PDA's) and cell phones.

Now, in the detail-in-context discourse, differentiation is often madebetween the terms “representation” and “presentation”. A representationis a formal system, or mapping, for specifying raw information or datathat is stored in a computer or data processing system. For example, adigital map of a city is a representation of raw data including streetnames and the relative geographic location of streets and utilities.Such a representation may be displayed visually on computer screen orprinted on paper. On the other hand, a presentation is a spatialorganization of a given representation that is appropriate for the taskat hand. Thus, a presentation of a representation organizes such thingsas the point of view and the relative emphasis of different parts orregions of the representation. For example, a digital map of a city maybe presented with a region magnified to reveal street names.

Detail-in-context presentations allow for magnification of a particularregion of interest (the “focal region”) in a representation whilepreserving visibility of the surrounding representation. In other words,in detail-in-context presentations focal regions are presented with anincreased level of detail without the removal of contextual informationfrom the original representation. In general, a detail-in-contextpresentation may be considered as a distorted view (or distortion) of aportion of the original representation where the distortion is theresult of the application of a “lens” like distortion function to theoriginal representation. A detailed review of various detail-in-contextpresentation techniques may be found in a publication by Carpendale,Marianne S. T., titled “A Framework for Elastic Presentation Space”(Burnaby, British Columbia: Simon Fraser University, 1999) andincorporated herein by reference.

Thus, detail-in-context presentations of data using techniques such asElastic Presentation Space (“EPS”) are useful in presenting largeamounts of information on limited-size display surfaces.Detail-in-context views allow magnification of a particular region ofinterest (the “focal region”) in a data presentation while preservingvisibility of the surrounding information. Development of increasinglypowerful computing devices has lead to new possibilities forapplications of detail-in-context viewing. At the same time, thedevelopment of new compact, mobile computing platforms such as handheldcomputers, typically with reduced computing performance and smallerdisplay surfaces as compared to desktop or mainframe computers, hasmotivated research into alternate implementation techniques andperformance improvements to detail-in-context data presentationtechnologies. Consequently, one shortcoming of current EPS graphicstechnology and detail-in-context presentation methods is that beingcomputationally inefficient, they are not optimized for newer compact,mobile computing platforms (e.g. handheld computers) that have reducedcomputing power. Considerable computer processing is required to distorta given presentation so as to produce a detail-in-context “lens”, and tomove the lens through the data with adequate performance to provide anacceptable level of interactivity to the user.

A need therefore exists for a method and system that will allow for theeffective implementation of EPS graphics technology on computingplatforms having variable levels of computing power. Consequently, it isan object of the present invention to obviate or mitigate at least someof the above-mentioned disadvantages.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with an aspect of the invention, there is provided animproved method for display of a transitional region of interest whiletransitioning between a first region of interest and a second region ofinterest within visual information on a display screen of a computer.The method comprises the steps of: applying a transitionaltransformation to the visual information, the transitionaltransformation requiring reduced calculations for transforming thevisual information to transitional transformed visual information; anddisplaying the transitional transformed visual information on thedisplay screen.

In accordance with a further aspect of the invention, there is provideda method for displaying the transition between regions of interestwithin visual information on a display screen of a computer. The methodcomprises the steps of: selecting a first region of interest within thevisual information; applying a first transformation to the visualinformation to improve the visual detail in the first region ofinterest; and displaying the first transformed visual information on thedisplay screen. Selecting a second region of interest within the visualinformation applying a second transformation to the visual informationto improve the visual detail in the second region of interest; anddisplaying the second transformed visual information on the displayscreen. Selecting a transitional region of interest on a path betweenthe first region of interest and the second region of interest withinthe visual information; applying a transitional transformation to thevisual information to improve the visual detail in a predeterminedportion of the transitional region of interest; and displaying thetransitional transformed visual information on the display screen.

In accordance with yet a further aspect of the invention, there isprovided a method for displaying visual information on a display screenof a computer. The method comprising the steps of: selecting a region ofinterest within the visual information; applying a transformation to thevisual information for improving visual detail and presentation qualityin the region of interest, the transformation for overlaying the visualinformation on a lens surface, the lens surface having predeterminedshape for the region of interest. Projecting the lens surface with theoverlaid visual information onto a plane. Increasing resolution of thevisual information in the region of interest. Decreasing resolution ofthe visual information outside the region of interest, and displayingthe transformed visual information on the display screen.

In accordance with yet a further aspect of the invention, there isprovided a data carrier having stored thereon instructions for improvingdisplay of a transitional region while transitioning between a firstregion of interest and a second region of interest within visualinformation on a display screen of a computer. The instructions comprisethe steps of: applying a transitional transformation to the visualinformation, the transitional transformation having a reduced a numberof calculations required for rendering the transitional transformedvisual information; and displaying the transitional transformed visualinformation on the display screen.

In accordance with yet a further aspect of the invention, there isprovided a method for displaying visual information in portable documentformat (PDF) files on a display screen of a computer is provided. Themethod comprising the steps of: scaling the visual information toproduce a scaled representation to fit on the display screen, the scaledrepresentation generally containing the entire content of the visualinformation; selecting a region of interest within the scaledrepresentation; applying a transformation to the scaled representationto improve the visual detail in the region of interest; and, displayingthe transformed representation on the display screen. The step ofapplying a transformation further comprising the steps of: creating alens surface of predetermined shape for the region of interest; and,creating a transformed representation by overlaying the scaledrepresentation on the lens surface and projecting the lens surface withthe overlaid scaled representation onto a plane.

In accordance with yet a further aspect of the invention, there isprovided the use of a method for displaying visual information on adisplay screen of a computer for displaying visual information inportable document format (PDF) files is provided. The method comprisingthe steps of: scaling the visual information to produce a scaledrepresentation to fit on the display screen, the scaled representationgenerally containing the entire content of the visual information;selecting a region of interest within the scaled representation;applying a transformation to the scaled representation to improve thevisual detail in the region of interest; and, displaying the transformedrepresentation on the display screen.

According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided a method forgenerating a presentation of a region of interest in an original imagefor display on a display screen, comprising: applying a lens to a borderregion of the region of interest in the original image by displacing theborder region onto the lens and projecting the displacing onto a planein a uniform direction aligned with a viewpoint, wherein at least one ofthe lens and the viewpoint remain constant while transitioning betweenfirst and second locations for the region of interest in the originalimage. The method may further include displaying the presentation on thedisplay screen. The lens may have a magnified region for the borderregion. And, the magnified region may have a diminishing magnification.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a systemfor generating a presentation of a region of interest in an originalimage for display on a display screen, comprising: a processor coupledto memory and the display screen; and, modules within the memory andexecuted by the processor, the modules including: a module for applyinga lens to a border region of the region of interest in the originalimage by displacing the border region onto the lens and projecting thedisplacing onto a plane in a uniform direction aligned with a viewpoint,wherein at least one of the lens and the viewpoint remain constant whiletransitioning between first and second locations for the region ofinterest in the original image. The system may further include a modulefor displaying the presentation on the display screen. The lens may havea magnified region for the border region. And, the magnified region mayhave a diminishing magnification.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a systemfor displaying a region of interest while transitioning between firstand second locations for the region of interest within visualinformation on a display screen, comprising: a processor coupled tomemory and the display screen; and, modules within the memory andexecuted by the processor, the modules including: a module for applyinga transformation to a border region of the region of interest in thevisual information to improve visual detail in the border region of theregion of interest by: establishing a lens surface for the border regionhaving a lens surface shape; and, generating a presentation byoverlaying the visual information on the lens surface and projecting thelens surface with the visual information onto a plane in a uniformdirection aligned with a viewpoint, wherein at least one of the lenssurface shape and the viewpoint remain constant during the transitioningbetween the first and second locations; and, a module for displaying thepresentation on the display screen. The transformation may transformonly a portion of the visual information in the region of interest. Theportion may be the border of the region of interest. The border regionmay be a periphery of the region of interest. The lens surface for theborder region may be defined by a distortion function. The lens surfacefor the border region may be defined by a predetermined portion of alens surface for rendering the region of interest. The predeterminedportion may be a border region of the lens surface for rendering theregion of interest. The predetermined portion may be a periphery of thelens surface for rendering the region of interest. The system mayfurther include a module for establishing a path between the first andsecond locations for the region of interest. The path may be establishedautomatically by a predetermined program. The path may be established byuser selection. The system may further include a module for at least oneof: increasing resolution of the visual information in the region ofinterest; and, decreasing resolution of the visual information outsidethe region of interest. The transformation may provide a smoothtransition to the region of interest from an adjacent region by blendingincreased and decreased resolution visual information in predefinedregions adjacent to the region of interest. The blending may beperformed by averaging the increased and decreased resolution visualinformation. The blending may be performed by admixing the increased anddecreased resolution visual information. The system may further includea module for transmitting the presentation over a network to a remotecomputer. The visual information may include a portable document format(PDF) document. The lens surface for rendering the region of interestmay be defined by the distortion function. The region of interest, thelens surface, and the lens surface shape may include a plurality ofregions of interest, a plurality of lens surfaces, and a plurality oflens surface shapes, respectively. The visual information may includeone or more of newspapers, magazines, telephone directories, and maps.The visual information may include web page content. The display screenmay be contained in a handheld device. The visual information may be anewspaper page. The newspaper page may include one or more of aplurality of headlines, columns, articles, graphics, and advertisements.The region of interest may include one or more of a headline, a column,an article, a graphic, and an advertisement. The lens surface shape mayhave a shape corresponding to that of the region of interest. The lenssurface shape may have a shape corresponding to a column. Thetransformation may increase the font size within a portion of thecolumn. The lens surface shape may be tapered to provide a continuoustransition on at least one side of the portion of the column toundistorted text. And, the system may further include a module forscaling the visual information to fit on the display screen.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention may best be understood by referring to the followingdescription and accompanying drawings which illustrate the invention. Inthe drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a 3D perspective viewing frustum inaccordance with known elastic presentation space graphics technology;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a presentation in accordance withknown elastic presentation space graphics technology;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an exemplary data processing system forimplementing an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 4 is a screen capture of a PDF file for a newspaper page that hasbeen shrunk to fit a display surface in accordance with one embodimentof the invention; and,

FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating a general method for displayingvisual information in portable document format (PDF) files on a displayscreen of a computer in accordance with one embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth toprovide a thorough understanding of the invention. However, it isunderstood that the invention may be practiced without these specificdetails. In other instances, well-known software, circuits, structuresand techniques have not been described or shown in detail in order notto obscure the invention. The term “data processing system” is usedherein to refer to any machine for processing data, including thecomputer systems and network arrangements described herein. The term“PDF” (Portable Document Format) is used herein to refer to a fileformat that captures all the elements of a printed document as anelectronic image that a user can view, navigate, print, or forward tosomeone else. The term “Elastic Presentation Space” or “EPS” is usedherein to refer to techniques that allow for the adjustment of a visualpresentation without interfering with the information content of therepresentation. The adjective “elastic” is included in the term as itimplies the capability of stretching and deformation and subsequentreturn to an original shape. EPS graphics technology is described byCarpendale in A Framework for Elastic Presentation Space (Carpendale,Marianne S. T., A Framework for Elastic Presentation Space (Burnaby,British Columbia: Simon Fraser University, 1999)) which is incorporatedherein by reference. In EPS graphics technology, a two-dimensionalvisual representation is placed onto a surface; this surface is placedin three-dimensional space; the surface, containing the representation,is viewed through perspective projection; and the surface is manipulatedto effect the reorganization of image details. The presentationtransformation is separated into two steps: surface manipulation ordistortion and perspective projection. In the drawings, like numeralsrefer to like structures or processes. Referring to FIG. 1, there isshown a perspective view 100 of a 3D perspective viewing frustum 220 inaccordance with known elastic presentation space (“EPS”) graphicstechnology. In EPS, detail-in-context views of 2D visual representationsare created with sight-line aligned distortions of a 2D informationpresentation surface within a 3D perspective viewing frustum 220. InEPS, magnification of regions of interest and the accompanyingcompression of the context region to accommodate this change in scaleare produced by the movement of regions of the surface towards theviewpoint 240 located at the apex of the pyramidal shape 220 containingthe frustum. The process of projecting these transformed layouts via aperspective projection results in a new 2D layout which includes thezoomed and compressed regions. The use of the third dimension andperspective distortion to provide magnification in EPS provides ameaningful metaphor for the process of distorting the informationpresentation surface. The 3D manipulation of the informationpresentation surface in such a system is an intermediate step in theprocess of creating a new 2D layout of the information.

Referring to FIG. 2, there is shown a cross-sectional view of apresentation 200 in accordance with known EPS graphics technology. EPSgraphics technology employs viewer-aligned perspective projections toproduce detail-in-context presentations in a reference view plane 201which may be viewed on a display. Undistorted 2D data points are locatedin a basal plane 210 of a 3D perspective viewing volume or frustum 220which is defined by extreme rays 221 and 222 and the basal plane 210. Aviewpoint (“VP”) 240 is located above the centre point of the basalplane 210 and reference view plane 201. Points in the basal plane 210are displaced upward onto a distorted surface 230 which is defined by ageneral 3D distortion function (i.e. a detail-in-context distortionbasis function). The direction of the viewer-aligned perspectiveprojection corresponding to the distorted surface 230 is indicated bythe line FPo-FP 231 drawn from a point FPo 232 in the basal plane 210through the point FP 233 which corresponds to the focus or focal regionor focal point of the distorted surface 230.

To reiterate, EPS refers to a collection of know-how and techniques forperforming “detail-in-context viewing” (also known as “multi-scaleviewing” and “distortion viewing”) of information such as images, maps,and text, using a projection technique summarized below. EPS isapplicable to multidimensional data and is well suited to implementationon a computer for dynamic detail-in-context display on an electronicdisplay surface such as a monitor. In the case of two dimensional data,EPS is typically characterized by magnification of areas of an imagewhere detail is desired, in combination with compression of a restrictedrange of areas of the remaining information (the “context”), the endresult typically giving the appearance of a lens having been applied tothe display surface. EPS has numerous advantages over conventional zoom,pan, and scroll technologies, including the capability of preserving thevisibility of information outside the local region of interest.

In general, in EPS, the source image to be viewed is located in thebasal plane. Magnification and compression are achieved throughelevating elements of the source image relative to the basal plane, andthen projecting the resultant distorted surface onto the reference viewplane. EPS performs detail-in-context presentation of n-dimensional datathrough the use of a procedure wherein the data is mapped into a regionin an (n+l) dimensional space, manipulated through perspectiveprojections in the (n+l) dimensional space, and then finally transformedback into n-dimensional space for presentation.

For example, and referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, in two dimensions, EPS canbe implemented through the projection of an image onto a reference plane201 in the following manner. The source image is located on a basalplane 210, and those regions of interest 233 of the image for whichmagnification is desired are elevated so as to move them closer to areference plane situated between the reference viewpoint 240 and thereference view plane (RVP) 201. Magnification of the “focal region” 233closest to the RVP varies inversely with distance from the RVP 201. Asshown in FIGS. 1 and 2, compression of regions outside the focal region233 is a function of both distance from the RVP 201, and the gradient ofthe function describing the vertical distance from the RVP 201 withrespect to horizontal distance from the focal region 233. The resultantcombination of magnification and compression of the image as seen fromthe reference viewpoint 240 results in a lens-like effect similar tothat of a magnifying glass applied to the image, and the resultantdistorted image may be referred to as a “pliable display surface”.Hence, the various functions used to vary the magnification andcompression of the image via vertical displacement from the basal plane210 are described as lenses, lens types, or lens functions. Lensfunctions that describe basic lens types with point and circular focalregions, as well as certain more complex lenses and advancedcapabilities such as folding, have previously been described byCarpendale.

System.

Referring to FIG, 3, there is shown a block diagram of an exemplary dataprocessing system 300 for implementing an embodiment of the invention.The data processing system is suitable for implementing EPS technologyand for viewing PDF files. The data processing system 300 includes aninput device 310, a central processing unit or CPU 320, memory 330, anda display 340. The input device 310 may be a keyboard, mouse, trackball,or similar device. The CPU 320 may include dedicated coprocessors andmemory devices. The memory 330 may include RAM, ROM, databases, or diskdevices. And, the display 340 may include a computer screen or terminaldevice. The data processing system 300 has stored therein datarepresenting sequences of instructions which when executed cause themethod described herein to be performed. Of course, the data processingsystem 300 may contain additional software and hardware a description ofwhich is not necessary for understanding the invention.

Presentation of PDF Files Using EPS.

According to one aspect of the invention, EPS is applied to theelectronic and online (i.e. Internet) presentation of Portable DocumentFormat (“PDF”) files. PDF is a file format that captures the elements ofa printed document as an electronic image that a user can view,navigate, print, or forward to someone else. PDF files are created usingsoftware products such as Adobe Acrobat®. To view and use a PDF file, aproduct such as Adobe Acrobat Reader® is typically used. PDF files areespecially useful for documents such as newspaper and magazine articles,product brochures, or flyers where it is desired to preserve theoriginal graphic appearance online. For example, a PDF file may be usedfor the online distribution of a printed document where it is desirableto preserve its printed appearance.

EPS and detail-in-context viewing can be used to enhance the viewing ofPDF file. This is affected by the electronic scaling of the documentcontent to a size that allows presentation of the full content on thedisplay surface, with the use of specialized EPS lenses to enlargeregions of interest 233 to make them readable to the user. This methodcan be used to achieve the more effective presentation of PDF filecontent on small display surfaces including handheld computers. Thisaspect of the invention can be implemented with pre-placed EPS lenses onimportant content components including headlines, feature articles,tables of contents, and advertisements. Interaction with the reader issuch that articles in the reader's region of interest 233 are enlargedautomatically via EPS lenses of complex shape to suit the shape of thearticle or other area of interest.

Referring to FIG. 4, there is shown a screen capture 400 of a PDF filefor a newspaper page that has been effectively shrunk to fit a displaysurface 340 according to one embodiment of the invention. A lens 410 hasbeen used in the fifth column to increase the font size in the reader'sregion of interest 233. The top 420 and bottom 430 of the lens 410 aretapered to provide a continuous transition to the unmagnified text 440.Partial overwriting of neighboring columns 450 and images 460 by thelens 410, rather than a lateral distortion, is performed to blend thelens 410 into the undistorted regions 470, and provide enough space forthe lens 410 while preserving the spatial orientation of the neighboringcolumns.

The implementation of pre-placed lenses can be achieved as follows. Inorder to provide the user with an immediate view of certain regions of afile, items of interest such as article headlines, whole articles, oradvertisements can have lenses 410 in place when the document is firstviewed. This can be implemented, for example, through the use of speciallens locating information (i.e. locating tags) embedded within thesource file or in a separate data layer, indicating the characteristics,location and/or bounds of the lens.

Method and Use.

Referring to FIG. 5, there is shown a flow chart 500 illustrating ageneral method for displaying visual information in portable documentformat (PDF) files on a display screen of a computer according to oneembodiment of the invention. At step 501, the method starts. At step502, the visual information is scaled to produce a scaled representationto fit on the display screen. The scaled representation generallycontains the entire content of the visual information. At step 503, aregion of interest is selected within the scaled representation. At step504, a transformation is applied to the scaled representation to improvethe visual detail in the region of interest. At step 505, thetransformed representation is displayed on the display screen. At step506, the method ends. Thus, elastic presentation space methodology canbe used for displaying visual information in portable document format(PDF) files on a display screen of a computer.

Restricted Rendering of Lens During Lens Motion.

According to another aspect of the invention, a restricted portion ofthe region of interest (i.e. the “lens”) 233, for example the border orperiphery 420, 430 of a lens 410, is rendered to a display 340 duringthe movement of the lens about the data space. The movement of the lens410 may be user initiated or automated. By rendering only a portion ofthe lens 410, the computations required for lens movement and renderingare minimized while a presentation of the changing location of the lensis maintained. When movement of the lens ceases, by user or automatedmeans, a full rendering of the lens in its new location can bedisplayed. In this way, the number of computations required during themovement of the lens 410 is reduced and hence performance is improvedwhich is especially important for systems 300 with limited computationalspeed.

Blending and Selective Use of Data at Multiple Resolutions.

To improve detail-in-context presentation quality, an increase in thespatial resolution or level of detail within the region of interest 233,410 can be provided as can a smooth visual transition from the region ofinterest to surrounding regions 440, 470.

According to another aspect of the invention, an increase in resolutionwithin the region of interest 233, 410 of a detail-in-contextpresentation is provided by the selective high resolution rendering to adisplay 340 of data within the region of interest 233, 410 andneighbouring regions 420, 430 of a detail-in-context lens while theremaining data 440, 470 in the presentation is rendered at lowresolution. In this way, resolution within and about the region ofinterest 233, 410 can be increased with a minimum of computing resources(i.e. processing time and processor memory).

According to another aspect of the invention, a smooth visual transitionfrom the region of interest 233, 410 to surrounding regions 440, 470 isprovided by the blending of low and high resolution regions 410, 420,430, 440, 470. This blending can be accomplished by averaging oradmixing of the high and low resolution regions described above. In thisway, a smooth visual transition can be provided from the region ofinterest to surrounding regions with a minimum of computing resources(i.e. processing time and processor memory).

In the case where the client device on which the data is viewed islocated apart from the data source (e.g. connected via the Internet), itis an advantage of the present invention that by increasing theresolution within the region of interest and smoothing the visualtransition from the region of interest to surrounding regions asdescribed, the amount of data that has to be transferred from the datasource (e.g. server) to the viewer (e.g. client) is minimized.

Computer Software Product.

The sequences of instructions which when executed cause the methoddescribed herein to be performed by the exemplary data processing systemof FIG. 3 can be contained in a computer software product according toone embodiment of the invention. This computer software product can beloaded into and run by the exemplary data processing system of FIG. 3.

Integrated Circuit Product.

The sequences of instructions which when executed cause the methoddescribed herein to be performed by the exemplary data processing systemof FIG. 3 can be contained in an integrated circuit product including acoprocessor or memory according to one embodiment of the invention. Thisintegrated circuit product can be installed in the exemplary dataprocessing system of FIG. 3.

Although the invention has been described with reference to certainspecific embodiments, various modifications thereof will be apparent tothose skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe invention as outlined in the claims appended hereto.

1. A method for generating a presentation of a region of interest in anoriginal image for display on a display screen, comprising: applying alens to a border region of the region of interest in the original imageby displacing the border region onto the lens and projecting thedisplacing onto a plane in a uniform direction aligned with a viewpoint,wherein the lens remains constant while transitioning between first andsecond locations for the region of interest in the original image; and,displaying the presentation on the display screen.
 2. The method ofclaim 1 wherein the viewpoint remains constant while transitioningbetween the first and second locations.
 3. The method of claim 2 whereinthe lens has a magnified region for the border region.
 4. The method ofclaim 3 wherein the magnified region has a diminishing magnification. 5.A system for generating a presentation of a region of interest in anoriginal image for display on a display screen, comprising: a processorcoupled to memory and the display screen; and, modules within the memoryand executed by the processor, the modules including: a module forapplying a lens to a border region of the region of interest in theoriginal image by displacing the border region onto the lens andprojecting the displacing onto a plane in a uniform direction alignedwith a viewpoint, wherein the viewpoint remains constant whiletransitioning between first and second locations for the region ofinterest in the original image; and, a module for displaying thepresentation on the display screen.
 6. The system of claim 5 wherein thelens remains constant while transitioning between the first and secondlocations.
 7. The system of claim 6 wherein the lens has a magnifiedregion for the border region.
 8. The system of claim 7 wherein themagnified region has a diminishing magnification.
 9. A system fordisplaying a region of interest while transitioning between first andsecond locations for the region of interest within visual information ona display screen, comprising: a processor coupled to memory and thedisplay screen; and, modules within the memory and executed by theprocessor, the modules including: a module for applying a transformationto a border region of the region of interest in the visual informationto improve visual detail in the border region of the region of interestby: establishing a lens surface for the border region having a lenssurface shape; and, generating a presentation by overlaying the visualinformation on the lens surface and projecting the lens surface with thevisual information onto a plane in a uniform direction aligned with aviewpoint, wherein at least one of the lens surface shape and theviewpoint remain constant during the transitioning between the first andsecond locations; and, a module for displaying the presentation on thedisplay screen.
 10. The system of claim 9 wherein the transformationtransforms only a portion of the visual information in the region ofinterest.
 11. The system of claim 10 wherein the portion is the borderof the region of interest.
 12. The system of claim 9 wherein the borderregion is a periphery of the region of interest.
 13. The system of claim9 wherein the lens surface for the border region is defined by adistortion function.
 14. The system of claim 9 wherein the lens surfacefor the border region is defined by a predetermined portion of a lenssurface for rendering the region of interest.
 15. The system of claim 14wherein the predetermined portion is a border region of the lens surfacefor rendering the region of interest.
 16. The system of claim 15 whereinthe predetermined portion is a periphery of the lens surface forrendering the region of interest.
 17. The system of claim 14 wherein thelens surface for rendering the region of interest is defined by thedistortion function.
 18. The system of claim 9 and further comprising amodule for establishing a path between the first and second locationsfor the region of interest.
 19. The system of claim 18 wherein the pathis established automatically by a predetermined program.
 20. The systemof claim 18 wherein the path is established by user selection.
 21. Thesystem of claim 9 and further comprising a module for at least one of:increasing resolution of the visual information in the region ofinterest; and, decreasing resolution of the visual information outsidethe region of interest.
 22. The system of claim 21 wherein thetransformation provides a smooth transition to the region of interestfrom an adjacent region by blending increased and decreased resolutionvisual information in predefined regions adjacent to the region ofinterest.
 23. The system of claim 22 wherein the blending is performedby averaging the increased and decreased resolution visual information.24. The system of claim 22 wherein the blending is performed by admixingthe increased and decreased resolution visual information.
 25. Thesystem of claim 9 and further comprising a module for transmitting thepresentation over a network to a remote computer.
 26. The system ofclaim 9 wherein the visual information includes a portable documentformat (PDF) document.
 27. The system of claim 26 and further comprisinga module for scaling the visual information to fit on the displayscreen.
 28. The system of claim 9 wherein the region of interest, thelens surface, and the lens surface shape include a plurality of regionsof interest, a plurality of lens surfaces, and a plurality of lenssurface shapes, respectively.
 29. The system of claim 9 wherein thevisual information includes one or more of newspapers, magazines,telephone directories, and maps.
 30. The system of claim 9 wherein thevisual information includes web page content.
 31. The system of claim 9wherein the display screen is contained in a handheld device.
 32. Thesystem of claim 9 wherein the visual information is a newspaper page.33. The system of claim 32 wherein the newspaper page includes one ormore of a plurality of headlines, columns, articles, graphics, andadvertisements.
 34. The system of claim 33 wherein the region ofinterest includes one or more of a headline, a column, an article, agraphic, and an advertisement.
 35. The system of claim 34 wherein thelens surface shape has a shape corresponding to that of the region ofinterest.
 36. The system of claim 35 wherein the lens surface shape hasa shape corresponding to a column.
 37. The system of claim 36 whereinthe transformation increases the font size within a portion of thecolumn.
 38. The system of claim 37 wherein the lens surface shape istapered to provide a continuous transition on at least one side of theportion of the column to undistorted text.
 39. A method comprising:applying a function by a data processing system to give an appearance ofa lens to a region in an original image; and displaying a presentationof the appearance of the lens that keeps the appearance of the lensconstant while transitioning between first and second locations for theregion in the original image on a display screen of the data processingsystem, wherein said displaying comprises rendering the appearance ofthe lens at a first resolution and rendering the original image outsideof the lens at a second resolution that is lower than the firstresolution.
 40. The method of claim 39 wherein the applying includesdisplacing a border region of the region in the original image onto thelens and projecting the displaying onto a plane in a uniform direction.41. The method of claim 40 wherein the uniform direction is aligned witha viewpoint.
 42. The method of claim 41 wherein the viewpoint remainsconstant while transitioning between the first and second locations. 43.The method of claim 40 wherein the lens has a magnified region for theborder region.
 44. The method of claim 43 wherein the magnified regionhas a diminishing magnification.
 45. A method comprising: applying afunction by a data processing system to give an appearance of a lens toa region in an original image; and displaying a presentation of theappearance of the lens that restricts rendering of the presentationwhile transitioning between first and second locations for the region inthe original image on a display screen of the data processing systemsuch that a portion of the appearance of the lens is not rendered duringthe transitioning, wherein the portion of the appearance of the lensthat is not rendered during the transitioning is within a border of theappearance of the lens.
 46. A method of claim 45 wherein the border ofthe appearance of the lens is rendered during the transitioning.
 47. Themethod of claim 45 wherein the applying includes displacing a borderregion of the region in the original image onto the lens and projectingthe displaying onto a plane in a uniform direction that is aligned witha viewpoint.
 48. The method of claim 45 further comprising displayingthe presentation of the appearance of the lens such as not to berestricted when the appearance of the lens is not being transitioned inthe original image on the display screen.
 49. The method of claim 45wherein the displaying of the presentation of the appearance of the lensis performed by fully rendering the appearance of the lens if theappearance is not being transitioned.
 50. The method of claim 45 whereinthe displaying of the presentation of the appearance of the lens isperformed by rendering the portion of the appearance of the lens if theappearance is not being transitioned.
 51. A client device comprising aprocessor and memory having instructions that are executable on aprocessor to receive data via an Internet from a server of an originalimage having a function applied to give an appearance of a lens to aregion of the original image provided by selective high resolutionrendering to display data within the region of interest and neighboringregions of the appearance of the lens while remaining data in theoriginal image is rendered at a low resolution, wherein the functioncauses a border region of the region in the original image to bedisplaced onto the lens and displayed onto a plane in a uniformdirection.
 52. The client device of claim 51 wherein the function causesthe neighboring regions of the appearance of the lens to give anappearance of a smooth transition from the high resolution rendering ofthe region to the remaining data in the original image.
 53. The clientdevice of claim 52 wherein the function causes the transition byblending of a low resolution rendering of the remaining data in theoriginal image with the selective high resolution rendering of theregion.
 54. The client device of claim 53 wherein the blending includesadmixing or averaging.
 55. The client device of claim 56, wherein theuniform direction is aligned with a viewpoint.
 56. A method comprising:displaying an image on a display of a computing device; specifying aregion of interest in the image; displaying, on the display, the regionof interest at a first resolution while displaying, on the display, oneor more portions from the image that lie outside the region of interestat a second resolution that is less than the first resolution; andupdating display of the region of interest as the region of interesttransitions from the first position to the second position, wherein saidupdating renders only a periphery of the region of interest as theregion of interest transitions from the first position to the secondposition.
 57. The method of claim 56, further comprising scaling theregion of interest to obtain a magnified presentation of the region ofinterest having a greater scale than the one or more portions that lieoutside the region of interest, wherein said displaying the region ofinterest comprises displaying the magnified presentation of the regionof interest.
 58. The method of claim 56, wherein said displaying theregion of interest occludes a portion of the image.
 59. The method ofclaim 56, further comprising receiving input that specifies movement ofthe region of interest from a first position to a second position. 60.The method of claim 56, further comprising smoothing a resolutiontransition between the region of interest displayed at the firstresolution and the one or more other portions displayed at the secondresolution.
 61. The method of claim 56, wherein said specifying includesembedding locating information for the region of interest in a source ofthe image.
 62. A computing device, comprising an input device configuredto receive input that specifies a region of interest in an image; and aprocessor configured to cause a display to display the region ofinterest at a first resolution and one or more portions from the imagethat lie outside the region of interest at a second resolution that isless than the first resolution, wherein the processor is furtherconfigured to cause the display to update display of the region ofinterest as the region of interest transitions from the first positionto the second position, and to only update a periphery of the region ofinterest as the region of interest transitions from the first positionto the second position.
 63. The computing device of claim 62, whereinthe processor is further configured to: scale the region of interest toobtain a magnified presentation of the region of interest having agreater scale than the one or more portions that lie outside the regionof interest; and cause the display to display the magnified presentationof the region of interest such that the magnified presentation occludesa portion of the image.
 64. The computing device of claim 62, whereinthe input device is further configured to receive additional input thatspecifies movement of the region of interest from a first position to asecond position.
 65. The computing device of claim 62, wherein saidprocessor is further configured to cause the display to display asmoothed resolution transition between the region of interest displayedat the first resolution and the one or more other portions displayed atthe second resolution.